Main content

Grace Bumbry, Audra McDonald, Bill Fontana

Sara Mohr-Pietsch talks to two American singers - the opera icon Grace Bumbry and the Broadway star Audra McDonald. Plus the sound artist Bill Fontana at the Aldeburgh Festival.

Sara Mohr-Pietsch meets two American singers - the opera icon Grace Bumbry and the broadway star Audra McDonald. Plus a conversation with the sound artist Bill Fontana in Snape, Suffolk, where he's created an installation modifying sounds from the reedbeds, marshes and the Maltings' industrial past, for this year's Aldeburgh Festival.

Grace Bumbry's career was launched when she won a competition at the tender age of 17. She was sought after across Europe and the USA as a mezzo soprano and later a soprano. Now aged 80, still actively coaching young singers, she's one of the jurors for the Â鶹Éç Cardiff Singer of the World 2017. She talks about her life on stage and in the concert hall, and passes on the wisdom of her career.

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Mon 19 Jun 2017 22:00

Chapters

  • Grace Bumbry

    Duration: 17:03

  • Bill Fontana

    Duration: 12:29

  • Audra McDonald

    Duration: 12:41

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Sara Mohr-Pietsch
Interviewed Guest Grace Bumbry
Interviewed Guest Audra McDonald
Interviewed Guest Bill Fontana

Broadcasts

  • Sat 17 Jun 2017 12:15
  • Mon 19 Jun 2017 22:00

Knock on wood – six stunning wooden concert halls around the world

Steel and concrete can't beat good old wood to produce the best sounds for music.

The evolution of video game music

Tom Service traces the rise of an exciting new genre, from bleeps to responsive scores.

Why music can literally make us lose track of time

Try our psychoacoustic experiment to see how tempo can affect your timekeeping abilities.

Podcast